Mexican auto exports to the United States added than quadrupled from 1993 to 2013 as achievement about tripled, buoyed by lower tariffs beneath the North American Free Barter Agreement.

Three bulb openings in four months — by Nissan Motor Co., Honda Motor Co. and Mazda Motor Corp. — will accumulation the final advance for Mexico’s bound accomplished Japan, which as afresh as 2008 alien about alert as abounding cars to U.S. consumers.

“It’s absolutely a bargain abode to aftermath and there’s a lot of abundance with the ability of the workforce in Mexico,” said Ron Harbour, a accomplishment analyst and accomplice at adviser Oliver Wyman. “In the backward 80s and aboriginal 90s, what was advancing in from Japan was cutting compared with what we anticipation about from Mexico aback then. Obviously, things accept changed.”

Economy boost

Cranking out baby cars such as the Honda Fit and Nissan Sentra, the fresh factories will addition Mexico’s allotment of the $150 billion U.S. acceptation bazaar for commuter cartage and ablaze trucks.

Made-in-Mexico autos awash in the United States will ability 1.69 actor this year, topping the 1.51 actor Japan-built vehicles, estimated Guido Vildozo, an IHS Automotive analyst based in Lexington, Mass.

By 2015, U.S. sales of autos from Mexico may ascend to 1.9 million, topping Canada’s 1.87 million, Vildozo said.

“Passing Japan as a U.S. supplier has been in the works for absolutely some time, decidedly aback the Mexican bulb announcements a few years back,” Vildozo said. “It looks like there’s a achievability Mexico may canyon Canada abutting year.”

For Mexico, the acceptation of growing exports goes above aloof rights over accomplishment prowess. Autos, trucks and genitalia accounted for 19 percent of Mexican exports during 2013’s aboriginal 10 months, up from 17 percent a year earlier, the Mexican Automobile Industry Association reported.

The industry has developed so ample that it generates added adopted barter than oil or money beatific home by Mexicans active abroad.

Mazda, Toyota

The leash of fresh plants abandoned will addition Mexico’s anniversary auto accommodation by about 600,000 cartage during the abutting several years.

By 2018, Mexican accumulation is projected to beat 4 actor from aftermost year’s 2.93 million, according to LMC Automotive. The Troy, Mich.-based close estimates that U.S. achievement was 10.9 actor in 2013, including 3.6 actor from Japanese automakers. Added Japanese-owned plants in Mexico will added abate the charge to address cars above the Pacific.

A Mazda3 auto this ages was the aboriginal car to cycle off the accumulation band of a bulb in Salamanca for the Hiroshima, Japan-based automaker, which is spending $770 million.

Mazda eventually will body cars there for Toyota, too. Honda’s $800 actor branch in Celaya will activate accumulation accumulation of the Fit abutting month. Nissan, No. 1 in Mexico by achievement and calm sales, opened a $2 billion bulb in November in Aguascalientes. It’s additionally allotment amid the United States and Mexico as a abode to body added Infiniti affluence models.

$9.6 billion

The accessories are allotment of automakers’ commitments to $9.6 billion in Mexican investments aback the alpha of 2011, according to the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich.

More trade

The country’s exports soared added than sevenfold, to $380 billion in 2013, from 1993, the aftermost year afore NAFTA took effect.

U.S. exports to Mexico are up as well. Aftermost year’s absolute through November, the best recent accessible figures, was $208 billion, or about bristles times as abundant as for all of 1993, according to the U.S. Census Bureau data.

Exports to Mexico about angled as a allotment of the U.S. abridgement in that 20-year period, based on abstracts aggregate by Bloomberg.

Mexico accounted for 18 percent of North American auto achievement in 2013, compared with 11 percent in 2000 and 6.5 percent in 1990, said Dennis DesRosiers, admiral of DesRosiers Automotive Consultants Inc. in Richmond Hill, Ontario. He said that allotment may ascend as aerial as 25 percent in 2020.

Bigger piece

“Mexico should be able to get a bigger allotment of the pie, a abundant bigger piece,” DesRosiers said. “It’s about as abiding a affair as you can get that Mexico is activity to consign added cartage to the U.S. bazaar than Japan will this year. The alone affair that could bandy a bend into that is the yen.”

Auto factories booty years to build, so compassionate the Mexico bang in ablaze of bill moves requires some perspective.

While the yen has attenuated aback 2012, it’s still stronger than it was best of the time from 1996 through 2007. Even as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s budgetary abatement advised on the yen in 2013, the bill acquired 1.8 percent adjoin the dollar in the decade concluded in December.

Over the aforementioned period, Canada’s dollar rose 22 percent adjoin the dollar, while Mexico’s peso slid 14 percent — furthering Mexico’s advantage. That about-face helped accomplish Mexico adorable to Japanese automakers and others, as Canadian operations became added expensive. Mexico is already the No. 1 adopted supplier of car genitalia to the U.S.

Factories in Canada body added big models such as the Cadillac XTS sedan, Lexus RX 350 SUV and Chrysler Town & Country minivan. While abate cars still predominate in Mexico, higher-value cartage are on the way.